Mac's Long Weekend
by wuoreb
Summary: When Veronica asks for a favor, Mac knows it's going to be a long weekend. Mac centered, non-shippy, friend fic. Rated for language


**Title**: Mac's Long Weekend

**Author**: wuoreb

**Pairing/Characters**: Canon - friend fic  
**Word Count**: 86,000+  
**Rating**: PG-13 (Language, drinking)

**Summary**: When Veronica asks for a favor, Mac knows it's going to be a long weekend.

**Spoilers**: Up to 3.20, Season finale  
**Warnings**: None  
**Fandom**: Veronica Mars

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the characters, I just wish I did.

**Author's Note**: This is my first fic. Any comments or corrections are welcome.

----- Prologue-----

This is hell, and Veronica Mars owed her big time. It was an early Friday afternoon on a long weekend and the last thing Mac wanted to do was goon a road trip. She tapped the steering wheel of her beloved Beetle nervously with her hands. They had been on the road for an hour and a half now and he hadn't said one freaking word. Well that wasn't totally true, as he limped over to the car he'd said, "Thanks for the ride."

Why in the world had she agreed to drive Weevil "Convicted Felon" Navarro two hours out of Neptune to go to a party hosted by none other then Dick Casablancas? It wasn't like she was scared of Weevil she assured herself, after all this wasn't the first time she'd spent with him, it was just the first time she'd spent alone with him on an isolated road miles from anyone, while he went all serial killer quiet. She glanced over at the passenger seat again. He wasn't asleep, just staring out the car window.

"It's not like I bite or anything," He paused for a second and gave her a suggestive look, "unless you ask of course."

Her response a startled "What?" resulted in a satisfied grin from the passenger seat.

"Well I gotta figure with the way you keep looking you're either terrified of me or hot for my body." He gestured at himself arrogantly.

She stared through the windshield at the winding mountain road ahead and kept her voice dry, "Don't flatter yourself, the silence was just making me nervous."

"Cause we have so much in common to talk about right?" His words were probably meant to sound flippant but Mac heard an undertone of bitterness.

"Well do you know why we are going to hang out with a bunch of 09er jackasses in the middle of nowhere?" Mac was hoping it was something simple, break some outdated security system, or decrypt some files. Heck she'd even be willing to provide an alibi. She just didn't want to get mixed up in anything too complicated. Of course, lately it seemed like Veronica's life was nothing but complicated.

"Well I don't know about you," he said, "but I'm doing it for four hundred bucks."

Mac blurted in outrage, "Wait a sec, you're getting paid!"

"You're not?" He asked questioningly, laughing when she shook her head no.

Veronica so owed her for this.

----- Chapter 1-----

It was around thirty minutes later when the pulled up to the hotel. As Mac put her car in park she couldn't help her feeling of trepidation, she had a mental checklist of all the things she was going to hate about this weekend. Doing mysterious favors for Veronica, check. Spending time with people who'd either ignored her existence or mocked her in high school, check. Instructed to bring fancy cloths, check. Dick Casablancas, check. This was going to blow an epic amount.

"Is it just me or is this the hotel they filmed 'The Shining' in?" Mac could have sworn she heard dread in Weevil's voice. She stared up at the hotel and searched her memory, trying to remember what the movie she'd last seen nearly five years ago.

"I think it's smaller," she said doubtfully. It really did look like the one in the movie. Hotel from a classic horror movie, check.

"V is so going to owe me for this." Mac glanced at Weevil surprised to hear him saying exactly what she was thinking. She really didn't want to get out of the car. Unfortunately the valet standing next to her door looked like he was starting to get impatient.

The valet took the keys and the bell-guy left with her bag (Weevil had refused to turn over his bag and she wouldn't relinquish her laptop case). No avenue of escape left she reluctantly headed inside the building, Weevil limping along behind her.

As she pushed through the main doors of horror movie hotel she suddenly flashed back to a nightmare she had in high school. The room gigantic, covered in marble, gilt, and fancy breakable looking furniture. What was worse it was filled with wealthy looking people, all of whom had the shiny, happy look people got with designer clothes and plastic surgery. It felt like all of them were staring at her as she stood frozen in the doorway. Mac quickly looked down, nope it wasn't that nightmare - she wasn't naked.

Weevil's voice coming over her shoulder broke her paralysis, "Is this what the Hellmouth looks like?" She wasn't sure if it was the question itself or the incongruity of him referencing Buffy, but she fought back a laugh and walked to the front desk.

As she waited for the woman behind to counter to get off the phone and check them in she smiled Weevil pleased they had something in common, "I didn't know you were a Buffy fan."

"What's not to like? Chica could kick some ass." He returned her smile.

They were interrupted when the woman behind the counter finally got off the phone, "Can I help you?" The words were courteous but the tone was anything but. The woman bore a striking resemblance to Morticia Adams, only with her hair in a bun and wearing a business suit.

"We have reservations," Mac paused for a second. She was unsure whose name they were under, "they are probably under Mackenzie."

After tapping at her computer for roughly thirty seconds, the woman glanced up and gave Weevil a chilly look, "I'm sorry we don't have anything under that name, perhaps you are at the wrong hotel. There is a Super8 just down the road." Mac felt Weevil stiffen beside her and without thinking she reached over and grabbed his arm.

"Check under Navarro then." Weevil demanded coldly.

The woman tapped at the keyboard, "No sorry it appears you don't have a reservation here, unfortunately we don't have any vacancies this weekend. I can have the bellhop bring your things out to the car." As she spoke she gestured for the bellhop.

Feeling the tension in Weevil's arm, Mac was about to start yelling, when Dick popped out of nowhere and gave her a completely unexpected hug. "Hey Ghost World, you made it."

Shocked into immobility it took Mac a second to fend him off. "What room are you in? I asked that our gang be put on the same floor." Mac blinked unsure how to react to his friendliness and wondering when the heck she had become one of "his gang." She had been avoiding him for days now after their last awkward conversation. He couldn't really have been meaning to kiss her...could he?

"Mr. Casablancas, Sir, I wasn't aware these were two of your guests." Mac heard Weevil snort at the fawning tone the bitchy counter lady used talking to Dick. "I'll have the keys for their room in just a second." Wait a second - room singular? "Here you go. You are in room 211. I hope you have a pleasant stay. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to make your stay more enjoyable." The smile that accompanied those words looked just a tiny bit strained.

"Hey, me and Logan are in the suite right across the hall. This weekend is going to rock!" Dick smiled at her cheerfully; his good mood was starting to freak her out. "Hey, so when did you dump that geek you were dating? It sorta surprised me when Ronnie told me you took up with Weevil. I mean, I get the whole wild collage thing. I'm all about the booty call. But, you didn't really seem like the type. Oh, but hey, if you just want to, you know, get freaky with it you should totally give me a call sometime. We could have some fun.

Mac stared at Dick, wondering briefly what Veronica had told him. She responded dryly, "Sorry Dick no can do. Me and Weevil, soul-mates. Epic love and all that."

Dick blinked, "Well go ahead and give me a call if you change your mind or if you just want to hang out or something, 'cause that's what buds are for. Hey I'll see you later, there's a red-head over by the fireplace who totally wants me."

Mac and Weevil started heading for the elevator, closely followed by the bellhop. "Soul-mates, huh. Why Mac, I didn't know you cared." Mac snorted at Weevil's tone.

"Hey for the rest of this weekend, if Dick hits on me, you're my destiny, baby." Mac gave Weevil a crooked smile.

Weevil gave her a slow smile back, "Just so you know my destiny definitely puts out."

"Ah, too bad, I guess it just wasn't really meant to be. But I'm sure there are plenty of desperate lonely girls here who'd be happy to..."

Mac was interrupted by a sibilant cry of disgust, "What are you doing here?" Turning Mac winced, wasn't this just craptastic. Keeping her voice utterly devoid of emotion, "Madison Sinclair, how nice to see you again."

"What? Did you mortgage your house just to spend a weekend here? I knew you were a desperate wannabe but I didn't think you'd stoop to following me around." Madison dripped venom.

Just then the elevator dinged and Mac gave Madison a fake smile, "Didn't you hear? Dick invited us." Then she, Weevil, and a bellboy assiduously pretending to be deaf, boarded the elevator. When the doors closed Madison was glaring at her angrily.

As the elevator rose, Mac found herself wondering how else this weekend could be screwed up. She glanced over at Weevil and found him giving her a wide smile. "What?" She asked suspiciously, a little unnerved by his apparent cheerfulness.

"Chica, here I thought I'd be the one drawing all the attention. Didn't know you had such a big 09er fan club."

"What can I say, they like me, they really like me." After delivering her line she stared at the ceiling wondering briefly if this was God's punishment for that whole hacker thing.

After the elevator reached the second floor it only took a minute to reach their room. Mac was still searching her through her bag and frantically trying to remember how much you tipped bellboys when Weevil passed the guy a folded bill. The bellboy glanced at the bill, grinned, and told them to find him if they needed anything at all. Who'd a thought it; Weevil must be a good tipper.

As she looked over the room Mac felt a sinking feeling. It was clean, luxurious, nicely decorated, and the centerpiece of the room was one really big bed. She sighed and looked over at Weevil, expecting some thinly veiled innuendo. So she was a little surprised when instead he just shrugged and offered to sleep on the floor.

It only took a second to put her stuff in an out of the way corner, she watched as Weevil wandered the room poking through closets and drawers. She noticed him favoring his leg more now then he had downstairs when he had an audience. "What happened to your leg?" she asked.

"Busted it lugging a washing machine at work," he glared at the wall, "Damn human resources suit is still holding up my workers' comp. The pendejo in charge is saying I probably hurt it goofing off. Bastard."

"What did the doctor say?"

"Not much, I'm supposed to stay off it and take it easy...he didn't mention how I was supposed to do that and still pay my rent." After that he gave a weary sigh and sat down on the uncomfortable looking loveseat.

"And thus your little foray into 09er hell?" she asked lightly.

He nodded, "So any ideas on what V has planned for us?"

She shrugged, reached for her cell phone, and called Veronica. She picked up after only one ring. "Veronica, why was Dick so happy to see me? And, oh yeah, why does Dick think I'm having a torrid affair with Weevil?" He snorted as he listened in from across the room.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, "um, about that, I might have told Dick that you, um..."

"Spit it out Veronica." Mac was beginning to get a sinking feeling in her stomach.

There was a sigh, "Okay before you get mad, I had a really good reason. I have to get close to someone here at the party and what with the stuff with Logan, Dick was my only in."

Mac glared at the phone, "There is something so wrong with that statement."

"All right, I was talking to Dick...and I may have told him that you were really depressed over breaking up with your boyfriend and could really use a friend. I was surprised, he really went for it. He actually told me that he was bummed that you didn't like him. Um, I may have told him that you actually did like him, in a totally non-sexual way, but didn't know how to say so. I believe I also mentioned your burning desire to leave campus and total lack of funds and he immediately invited us both for this weekend - on him. He said he had tons of ideas on how to entertain you and keep your mind off your troubles. And he only mentioned being willing to jump your bones to cheer you up once."

"Veronica, how could you? Do you have any idea what Dick might consider a good way to entertain me? I don't, but the possibilities are enough to make me change my name and move to Canada. I'm starting to have prom flashbacks, only this is a hundred times worse. And I'm still a little cloudy on how exactly Weevil fits into this little plan?"

She sighed, "Well I discovered last night that one of the people I have to talk to has a history of violence. You know I promised my Dad I'd start being more careful. Between Weevil and my trusty stun gun I ought to be alright."

"Uh huh and yet you still haven't explained me and Weevil's love connection."

"Okay, it was last minute and I had to improvise. Look on the bright side it'll keep guys from hitting on you."

Mac paused for a second, "There is still the matter of the boy, who I was still happily dating this morning by the way, waiting for me back at Hurst."

"I'll talk to him and explain everything, I swear. Piz and I'll be at the hotel in another few minutes, we can go over the plan and if everything goes right you might even be able to leave tomorrow. Look I've got to go. I'll see you in a little while." Veronica hung up and left Mac staring at her cell phone.

As Mac put away the cell Weevil gave her an expectant look, "Tell the truth, this is just V's own twisted idea of blind date. Really she just thinks we'd make beautiful babies together." Mac laughed and gave him a quick recap of the phone conversation. "So she didn't actually give you any details did she? Our girl's really all about operational security."

Mac and Weevil settled in and were cheerfully arguing about what to watch on TV when someone knocked on the door. Mac was expecting Veronica so when she opened the door and saw Logan it threw her for a loop. He brushed past her, "Is she here? Why did she con Dick into inviting her?" Logan paused for a second at the sight of Weevil before turning and giving Mac a burning look. "What the hell is going on?"

"I have no idea what's going on. Veronica has a case and she wanted me and Weevil for backup. I don't think it involves you at all." As she spoke she wondered how long Veronica and Logan would be broken up this time. They had one of those volatile, dramatic, relationships that constantly veered between perfection and destruction. Somehow she just didn't think that Piz could compete. Of course, he was a lot more restful.

Logan threw himself down on the bed, "The hell it doesn't concern me. Me and Dick have been planning a pre-summer blowout weekend all month, just us, our friends, and some willing ladies. I do not need Veronica snooping around trying to get my friends arrested. And why in the world would Dick think you and Weevil are dating? Last I heard you were in nerd heaven with your geeky boy toy."

Mac sighed and shrugged, "Veronica set this up. I guess she didn't think Dick would invite him out of the goodness of his heart."

"So she could have just brought Weevil as her date, its not like anyone would be shocked." Logan smirked, turning to Weevil, "And admit it Weevs you've wanted to get Veronica alone in a hotel room for years."

Weevil gave Logan a bored look, "Well since she's bringing Piz, I wouldn't want to be a third wheel."

If he was looking for a reaction he didn't get one. Logan just snorted. "Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about him."

This time the knock on the door was Veronica, who was not overly pleased to see Logan. However her reaction was positively overjoyed compared to Piz's. The bruises on his face were turning a spectacular shade of green, and the look he shot Logan when he walked through the door screamed dislike.

For a moment there was one of those incredibly awkward silences that Mac never knew how to fill. The Logan bounced to his feet, "Well nice catching up Mac, Weevil. We'll have to spend some quality time together this weekend. I'll just get out of your hair" Throwing a smirk at Weevil, "or not as the case may be. You know how it is, booze to drink, ladies to woo." He didn't speak to Veronica or Piz as he brushed past them, just nodded and kept walking.

After the door slammed behind Logan, it was Weevil who broke the silence, "Alright V, what's the plan?

Veronica looked away from the closed door, drew a breath, and exhaled noisily, "Here's the thing, and I was hired by a faculty member who was blackmailed. Over the course of a year the victim gave up their life savings, but of course the blackmail hasn't stopped. The blackmailer is Larry Smidt, Hurst junior, all around scumbag, and one of Dick Jr's drinking buddies. My job is to find out what happened to the money. Best case scenario is to get it back, second best is to find something incriminating that I can use as leverage on Larry. The guy is pretty seedy so I have high hopes that we'll find something. Plan A is to plant a bug in his room, steal his laptop, search his files, copy anything related to finances or anything criminal and replace the laptop without him knowing - until I blow him out of the water."

Mac found herself nodding, plan A seemed pretty straightforward.

"So Mac does her computer voodoo, but where exactly do I fit in?" Weevil questioned.

Veronica smiled at him, "You're more in the way of the back-up plan. If everything goes the way I want all you have to do is hang out and look pretty. However Larry has a history of violence. He was kicked out of three different high schools for fighting and even put a guy in the hospital once. He's a creep and I need a visible threat to control him."

Weevil stood up and gave Veronica a hard look, "I hate to break it to you but I'm not exactly in top form, my knee is still pretty banged up. I don't know how well I'd do in a straight up fight right now."

"Ah, but that's the beauty of my plan. Larry is a bit of a bully, picking on people smaller and weaker then him. All we have to do is make Larry think you are a hardened criminal with the kind of connections that could get him killed." Veronica seemed pretty proud of her plan but Weevil still had an extremely doubtful look on his face.

"Yeah, and in my spare time I work as a maintenance guy, you know, as a hobby." Weevil crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Veronica's response.

"You are on parole. And you wanted a job where you could pickup impressionable young co-eds." At the co-eds part Veronica smiled perkily over at Mac. Weevil rubbed the back of his head with his hand and sighed. Veronica tilted her head to the side, smiled, and said, "Weevil, you know you miss being the big bad biker, just think of this weekend as a chance to play him again for a little while. How could you turn that down?" Weevil stared at the ground for a second before agreeing and Mac found herself wondering how much he wanted to go back to how it was in high school.

"Any more objections?" She paused for a second, meeting Weevil's eyes first then Mac's, "Good. Here's the plan, Logan and Dick rented out the patio for dinner at six, we all go down, mingle; I meet up with Larry who I regale with tales of Weevil's supreme badness. Mac, you and Piz will need to sneak off, break into his room, steal his computer, and plant the bug. Text me when it's done. Then you do your computer magic. I'll keep an eye on Larry and make sure he doesn't go back to his room. I'll text if you if he starts moving. If he does then you'll need to get the laptop back without him knowing - even if you haven't found anything. If he knows we are on to him I'm not sure what he'll do." Veronica handed Mac a tiny bug in a little plastic case.

Mac felt a little relieved she wouldn't have to stay at the party - committing crimes was still better then making small talk. But she still had some reservations, "Um, are you sure you want me doing the actual breaking and entering? You know Q usually gets to stay back and play with the gadgets. Plus, I don't even know how to break into a room."

Veronica still had that confident smile on her face, "You'll be fine. I'll keep an eye on Larry. Plus, you won't be alone; I'm sending Piz with you." Mac suppressed a sigh; somehow she didn't think Piz was all that experienced in B&E either. "As for how you get in, ta da," she exclaimed dramatically as she pulled a key card on a lanyard out of her pocket, "This master key will get you in any room in the place. They really should pay the maids at this hotel more. He's in room 438."

-----Chapter 2-----

Mac looked around the patio nervously. Veronica had talked her into wearing a dress; she felt self conscious and uncomfortable. It took her a minute to realize the last time she'd dressed up had been graduation night. She so didn't need flash backs of that.

Loud music was booming and people were crowding around the bar and buffet table. Everyone was in their party best and drinking copiously. It was bleach blonds and miniskirts far as the eye could see. There was a crowd of people standing around making small talk and desperately hoping someone noticed how wonderful they were. Mac recognized some people from high school, some from college, and a few from the celebrity gossip pages. It was a collection of the youth of Neptune's crème de la crème - or something that floated to the top anyway.

Weevil had already abandoned her and was making a beeline for the bar. He didn't fit in any more then she did. He looked good, dressed up in a black button down shirt, with bling in his ears, but as he walked through the crowd eyes followed him. There was no sign of Veronica or Piz. On the bright side there was also no sign of Madison or Dick.

Just as she thought it she heard a loud familiar bellow, "Mac, awesome! I was wondering when you'd show." Before she had time to brace herself Dick was hugging her...again. And he kept giving her a funny look she had no idea how to interpret. "So, uh, I was wondering if you want to hang out later, as friends, you know. I sort of wanted to talk to you about something important."

Her first impulse was to say no immediately. That was also her second and third impulse. But Dick had sort of sad, half drunk, pathetic thing going on. Plus, he was paying for her room. Against her better judgment Mac found herself nodding, "Me and Veronica have some plans tonight. Why don't you come by my room tomorrow afternoon and we can talk."

Dick grinned wholeheartedly, "Great, we'll hang tomorrow. So, hey have you ever been surfing? 'Cause I could totally teach you and its really good for cheering people up. When you're out on the ocean it's just you and water. Like you're the only person on earth and nothing matters but catching the next wave. You'd make a totally cool surfer chick. Seriously."

She had a sudden horrifying image of her as surf chick, bikini, bleach blond hair, and, like, a totally bitchin' new lingo. "Sorry, can't swim. I gotta go." and she hurried away to join Weevil at the bar. Maybe she did need a drink.

When Veronica and Piz finally arrived, Mac was incredibly relieved. She could hardly wait for Veronica to give them the wave to head out. Piz on the other hand seemed to be enjoying the party. He immediately jumped into an intense conversation about music. As she walked by him Mac heard him waxing lyrical about the origin of punk music and its effect on modern rock.

Veronica made a beeline for a weedy looking guy accompanied by an older woman with improbable looking breasts. Mac decided that the guy must be Larry. She memorized his features and made a mental note to avoid him.

She spent her time nursing a soda, leaning on the fence around the patio, and shamelessly eavesdropping on other people. Apparently pink was the new black, Paris Hilton and everything she does is fascinating, and every problem facing America was the result of those damn immigrants. Mac also spent a few minutes trying to crush people's heads with the power of her mind, before deciding that unfortunately her mutant powers hadn't kicked in yet.

A girl did come over to talk for a few minutes. But all she wanted to talk about was high school. Mac didn't remember her at all. Most of her high school memories felt painful to her now and she didn't have much to say. The conversation seemed to last forever, the girl just kept asking her questions and trying to reminisce. She just wouldn't get the hint when Mac tried to walk away.

Luckily Mac finally got a text from Veronica so she was able to escape. She pulled Piz out of his conversation and they headed out. Yep, committing a felony was much better then staying at this party.

-----Chapter 3-----

The first part of the plan had gone like clockwork. To Mac's complete surprise she and Piz had managed to plant the bug, steal the computer, and get it back to her room without a single problem. It didn't take her long to hack into the computer. Larry apparently didn't have any added security software and none of his files were encrypted.

That's when things got icky. Larry apparently liked porn...a lot. He also didn't appear to be too picky. Men, women, animals, and oddly shaped vegetables were doing horrible things to each other in seemingly infinite combinations. On the 120 gig hard drive there was 97 gigs of porn. What it lacked in quality (and it seriously lacked quality) it more than made up for in quantity. After she randomly clicked on a few files, Piz turned so red it almost looked like he was going to die of embarrassment. The blush kind of clashed with his bruises too.

Searching Larry's hard drive was an education...if you were going to school to be a crack whore. After nearly an hour (she had hopes that her brain would block the memories due to the trauma) she decided she'd found everything she was going to. Mac was almost done copying when they got the text from Veronica. Larry was headed back to his room. She hurriedly shut the laptop down. Piz grabbed it and the master key and sprinted out the door, shouting over his shoulder for her to wait here.

While waiting for them to get back, Mac started going over her stolen files. There were some financial records with account numbers, but they weren't very well organized. She wasn't finding any passwords either.

After only a few minutes Veronica and Weevil arrived. Veronica activated the bug right away. Larry wasn't sounding the alarm over a missing laptop so apparently Piz managed to return it on time. After a minute of listening in, Veronica lowered the earphones with a look of disgust on her face. Turning to Weevil, "Well, you were right; the woman with him is a prostitute. And, by the way, our boy Larry has some interesting tastes."

Mac snorted at that understatement. "He also had an extensive, really extensive, porn collection on his computer. I think I found some financial records but I'm not sure if they are what you need. I copied everything I could find but he didn't seem to have any method of organization. I also found..."

Mac's explanation was cut short when Veronica received a one word text from Piz, "trapped." A few seconds later another arrived "help under bed." Veronica grabbed the bug receiver, gesturing for them to stay here as she rushed out the door.

Weevil who had gotten up from his seat on the bed when Veronica rushed out, sat back down. "So, find anything else good?"

"Other then the financial stuff? I'm not sure; his computer was filled with crap. Get this, there was a whole folder filled with homemade porn. Considering his...shortcomings...it was a really poor choice on his end." Mac wrinkled her nose thinking about it.

"So what should we do while we wait for them to get back?" He gave her a suggestive look.

She rolled her eyes and changed the subject, "I wonder if this TV gets HBO."

-----Chapter 4------

Nearly fifteen minutes after Veronica rushed out a raucous fire alarm sounded throughout the hotel. Mac wasn't really surprised. After grabbing her laptop (the security at this hotel didn't seem all that good) she and Weevil made their way outside. Mac and Weevil found a place to sit on the low stone wall lining the driveway. Despite Weevil's slow pace they weren't the last ones out of the hotel, there was a steady stream of people exiting for nearly forty-five minutes.

Weevil and Mac spent the first few minutes in silent boredom before they found a way to entertain themselves. They started devising fake back stories for the people milling around the driveway. They decided the retired school teacher looking woman was a serial killer, the balding mustachioed man a sword swallowing circus escape, a quiet thin young man with stylish clothes was a gigolo, and a hard of hearing elderly gentleman had to be a retired assassin. Judging people based on appearances was so much more fun when they were the ones doing it.

The game was just beginning to pall when Mac got a call from Veronica. "Looks like she got Piz out, she said we are done for tonight though. She asked me to e-mail the financial documents to her dad and said she'd call us in the morning."

He looked over at her, "So, do you want to go hang out at Dick's party?"

Mac replied with a sarcastic smile, "Hmm, we could go to the party and be mocked or ignored. Or we could actually do something fun...Like charge a bunch of eight dollar movies to Dick's account."

Weevil nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah but I thought you were sick of watching porn?" She groaned and tossed a pebble at him.

Eventually a wimpy looking guy in a suit announced that this was a false alarm and that the guests could safely return to their rooms. As they walked through the main entrance a staff member handed them a voucher for a free drink at the hotel bar. Weevil cocked an eyebrow at her questioningly, she nodded, and they headed over to redeem their coupons.

The bar was a crush, apparently the only thing the idle rich liked better then keeping down the man is free booze. Mac didn't really feel like fighting her way through the crowd so she gestured at an unoccupied corner table. Weevil nodded, "Hey pass me your voucher and I'll get your drink for you." Mac nodded, after today she could actually use a drink.

She smiled at him, "Veronica hook you up with a fake I.D.?"

"Nah, haven't been carded since I was twelve, plus with the crowd here they'll be to busy to check." As he pushed his way through the crowd Mac had a sudden mental image of a twelve year old Weevil sauntering into a bar. He probably could have pulled it off at that.

Due to the crowd the wait was a long one, she was just thinking about pulling out her laptop when Logan sat down across from her. "So, Mac should I be expecting a visit from the cops tonight?"

"Not sure, have you been doing anything illegal?"

He leaned back in his chair, "Nothing lately. Where's your 'Date'?"

"Getting drinks."

"You're drinking now? Weevil must be a bad influence." he said, looking over her shoulder.

Just then Weevil walked up carrying two glasses, "You talking about me? You better be saying something good or I'll have to kick your ass again." Logan made a grab for one of the glasses, but Weevil pulled it back out of his reach.

"Keep your paws to yourself. I'll have you know this whiskey's nearly as old as me. The bartender didn't even bat an eye when I asked for the good stuff. You want some - go get your own"

Logan gave Weevil a crooked smile, "You know you won't appreciate the finer things in life, I'll buy you a couple of beers."

Weevil sat down next to Mac, putting her drink in front of her, "Bite me Echolls. I know enough not to let good things slip through my fingers. Didn't anyone ever tell you not to horn in on other people's dates?"

"You can't fool me. Mac has too much good taste to take up with you. Why don't you two tell me what you're really doing here?"

Weevil took a sip of his drink, "Damn this stuff is good. We aren't up to anything; we're just hanging out enjoying our free drinks."

Logan gave them both a suspicious look, "You trying to tell me Veronica doesn't have some stupid yet complicated plan to ruin someone at the party?"

"Man, I'm telling you, me and Mac are sitting here having a drink and not up to anything at all."

"Well then, you guys won't care if I hang with you tonight right?"

Weevil shrugged, he didn't care if Logan believed him or not. "Doesn't matter to me, I thought this was your big weekend though. Wouldn't you rather be out partying?"

"Uh huh, I leave you two alone and suddenly Dick gets arrested for credit card fraud or something." Logan was still suspicious.

"Yeah 'cause your boy really has the brains to pull that off," Weevil said sarcastically.

As she sipped her drink, she looked back and forth between the two. Listening to the words she almost expected them to throw punches then and there, but way they smirked at each other was almost friendly. Guys were so weird.

Before Mac could decide what to say to Logan, there was an unwelcome interruption. A dressed-up Madison tapped Logan's shoulder, "Hi Logan. How are you doing?" She gave Mac a quick glare, "Slumming?" Madison had two near clones standing behind her. Mac sighed. Ah yes, it was a cardinal rule that bitches had to run in packs.

Logan looked up, his expression remaining bland. "Hi."

"So Logan, I was hoping we could get together later. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever." Madison practically cooed.

"So sorry, Madison, I've already made plans with my good friends, Mac and..." there was barely perceptible pause, "Weevil."

Madison took a moment to give Mac the death stare (which failed to bother Mac - angry Madison actually made her quite happy). She shrugged, "Your loss." She gestured for her followers, "Girls, lets go find someone interesting to talk to."

Mac took a sip of her drink and watched them walk away. "I think you ticked her off. If you don't like her why don't you just say: Madison, you're evil incarnate, go away."

"I'm through purposefully ticking girls off," He shrugged, "I'm steadily losing ground in the dating department, between daddy dearest, my multiple arrests, my celebrity trials, and my general baggage. I've decided not to pull the pin on any more social hand grenades."

"Boo hoo." Weevil snorted, "poor rich little white boy, it must be so hard to get a date."

"Forget love, it's overrated. Why don't we have ourselves a nice game of poker? You'll be just as poor at the end but at least no one will rip out your heart, cut it to pieces, and stomp on it." Logan said, his eyes looking at something over Mac's left shoulder. Mac turned to see what he was looking at and saw Veronica and Piz standing next to the bar. It was too far a way to hear what they were saying but their body language was unhappy.

Mac turned back to Logan and raised her eyebrows, "Bitter much? I'm up for a game of cards. You'll have to remind me of the rules though. I haven't played in a while." At her words both Weevil and Logan gave her extremely suspicious looks.

"What?" Mac smiled at them innocently, "Would I lie to you?"

-----Chapter 5-----

Several hours later, it was well after midnight, and none of the three were feeling any pain. Neither Mac nor Weevil wanted to play for high stakes. Mac vetoed the strip poker suggestion - after commenting that if Logan and Weevil really wanted to see each other naked she could go for a walk.

So after some argument they decided to play poker as a drinking game. Dick and Logan's suite was filled to the seams with the inebriated, loud music and the occasional crash could be felt through the walls. It didn't take them long to decide to play their game in Mac and Weevil's room.

Mac had convinced them that as a non-drinker she should have a handicap. Initially she had done quite well, Weevil and Logan both downing a significant portion of the bottle; her online poker playing had been a big help. However she didn't have much of a poker face. Also each hand she lost seemed to decrease her poker abilities along with her lead.

It was a fun game. Logan and Weevil traded insults back and forth, and both took a perverse pleasure when she lost. Mac laughed more then she had in months. They talked about everything and nothing. They mocked each other's taste in music, clothes, and movies. Nobody mentioned anything serious or even slightly sad. Mac decided that drunk poker was the best idea ever. She also decided that Logan and Weevil were her best friends in the whole world - and told them so several times.

When Mac eventually stood up, her buzz progressed to full on room spinning and she decided to call it a night. The guys quit playing after the next hand. After giving her a hug and punching Weevil on the shoulder Logan headed across the hall to his room. Surprisingly he was back a minute later. "The party is still going and Dick told four ladies they could share my room. He said that he didn't think I'd mind. There's even someone on the couch. Can I crash here?"

Mac looked up from the bottle of water Weevil insisted she drink, "Sure, whatever."

Weevil was already dressed for bed in black sweats and a wife-beater, spreading some blankets on the floor.

Logan gave Mac a chiding look, "You're not going to make poor gimpy Weevil sleep on the floor are you? It'll probably maim him for life."

"And you care because..." Mac was beginning to feel really tired and she really wished the room would stop moving.

Logan gave her a winning smile, "I vote you let both of us sleep on the ginormous bed. It'd easily sleep three across without any of us touching. We'll promise to keep our hands to ourselves and then you don't have to feel guilty about us sleeping on this hard back-killing floor."

Mac yawned, "I wouldn't feel guilty." She turned at watched as Weevil limped over to the bathroom. Was he limping worse on purpose to make her feel bad? Mac yawned again, "Fine, you guys can sleep where ever you want. Just keep to your part of the bed. Also if I'm startled while I'm sleeping I kick...hard"

-----Chapter 6-----

The next morning (well really early afternoon) Mac woke up to the sound of knocking. The first thing she noticed when she woke up was the incredibly horrible taste in her mouth. Her tongue was coated in a thick coating of yuk. Then she moved her head and coherent thought went away while a shooting pain stabbed through her forehead.

Mac heard the sound of the door opening, and she turned her head further to the right, hiding her face in the shoulder under her head...and this was the point where Mac panicked. Because, with a suddenness that made ice picks of pain pierce her skull, she remembered her boyfriend was in another town. The non-boyfriend shoulder was attached to an arm that was wrapped around her and also to a body that she was curled next to and half draped over. This realization was followed within nanoseconds by a second discovery, that another body was spooned behind her with one arm curled around her stomach. She peeked her eyes open and saw a tattooed neck. Huh, she was sleeping on Weevil.

She had time for a few seconds of frantic memory searching (no, she hadn't made out with anybody, had she?) before the third realization made everything much worse. She heard a woman's voice, "Lo siento, no supe que este cuarto fue ocupado. Ahora me voy. Señor, no puede entrar aquí." Apparently thinking hurt now. Mac gave up her half-hearted attempt to remember her first year of high school Spanish and just began desperately hoping that the woman would go away.

Then she heard a click, a man's voice saying, "Smile for the camera." another click, and Logan shouting, "Get the hell out of here!" as he clumsily leaped out of the bed and (Mac deduced since she certainly wasn't going to look) started chasing him. The door slammed shut.

Weevil started swearing in Spanish and Mac pulled away from him. She grabbed a pillow and put it over her head. She wasn't sure if it was to block out the light or to hide her embarrassment.

As she lay there with the pillow over her head, Mac tried simultaneously to figure out what had happened and what her next move should be. First there had been cards, then drinking, and then...sleeping? Mac reached a hand down, yep fully dressed in her flannel p.j. bottoms and t-shirt. Weevil was still swearing. She only recognized a few of the words, but she didn't think he was repeating himself.

After a few more seconds, wondering if she should get up and hide in the bathroom, Mac heard knocking at the door. Hell no, she wasn't falling for that. Then she heard a muffled yelling, "Come on guys, I'm in my boxers here. Let me in." Logan. Shit. Now she had to move. She clumsily tottered out of the bed, carefully not meeting Weevil's eyes. At least he was dressed too. It seemed to take her longer then normal to stumble to the door and open it.

Oh, how truly good, moving made her nauseous. Ignoring Logan's entrance, she ran for the toilet. As she puked, Mac made herself a solemn vow; she would never ever drink again.

She was on her third minute of brushing her teeth when Weevil started knocking on her door. "Come on, girl. You've been in there forever, I gotta go." Damn it, she wasn't ready to leave the safety of the bathroom yet. But, Weevil was beginning to sound urgent, so she opened the door. He pushed past her, and said over his shoulder, "Chica, unless you want a show, close the door behind you. I'm not waiting any longer." He was hitching is pants down when she hurriedly closed the door.

Reluctantly Mac faced the room only to see Logan, in his boxers, laying face down on the bed. After one brief second of what she assured herself was purely ascetic appreciation, Mac turned away rubbing her forehead. Aspirin, did she have any Aspirin in her bag? A desperate search revealed that the only drug she had was Midol. Well it couldn't hurt, could it? She had just put the pills in her mouth when Weevil walked up to her and grabbed the bottle out of her hand. "You have drugs? Great, I could use some."

She quickly swallowed, "No, it's..." As Weevil grabbed a couple of pills, popped them in his mouth, and dry swallowed. Mac finished weakly, "its Midol. It was all I had in my bag." Weevil gave her a dirty look as Logan started laughing weakly from the bed.

He glared at Logan, "Man, put some pants on. You want to make the girl puke some more? Seeing you in your skivvies is making me nauseous."

The body on the bed didn't move for a long moment. His voice muffled in the bed, "You're just bitter because those pills are going to make you grow boobs."

"No they won't!" Weevil responded firmly.

Finally Logan pushed himself up, reached down to the floor, and started slowly pulling his jeans on. He had them about halfway up when he stopped and turned to Mac, "Um, I didn't do anything last night did I?"

Mac went over and sat on the bed. "All I remember is crawling into bed and going to sleep." She looked over at Weevil, who was rubbing his head and reading the back of the pill bottle.

He looked up at them, "Well other then that lap dance Echolls gave me nothing much happened."

Logan snorted and finished pulling up his pants, "In your dreams perv."

"It was more of a nightmare. I had to hit you a couple of times before you'd stop. I may need therapy. Your insurance covers that right?" Weevil set the pills on the table and gave Logan a smart-ass look.

He smirked back, "Well now I know you're lying. If you'd hit me I'd be all bruised up."

Yawning, Weevil said, "Maybe you're just getting used to it. I've beaten your ass so many times your body doesn't even bother to bruise anymore."

Mac interrupted, her head hurt too much to listen to the bickering. "So the real question is who the guy with the camera is? Logan, did you catch him? Do you know who he is?"

Flopping back on the bed, Logan stared at the ceiling. "I didn't catch him, I had to give up chasing him after a minute when some old lady called me a pervert and started yelling about calling the cops. This is really bad isn't it?" There was a long pause. "He was probably with the tabloids. I had run-ins with a few of them."

She suppressed a whimper. She just couldn't deal with this. "My dad reads those." She grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it. Shit, shit, shit, what was she going to tell Max?

Weevil interrupted her frantic mental tailspin, "Your face wasn't visible." She looked over at him. "You had your face pressed into my shoulder, so it wouldn't show." Mac looked at him hopefully and he snorted, "Of course, I'm screwed. I had one arm over my eyes, but that just made more of my tattoos visible."

"Whine, whine, whine, all you have to do is wear long sleeves for a couple of years. I'll tell anyone who asks you were complete strangers. I looked directly at the camera when he spoke. Hell, he may even have got a shot of me chasing him down the hall in my underwear. Yet, another quality Echolls media moment. Shit." Logan gave a bitter laugh.

Turning from Logan, to Weevil, and then back at Logan again, Mac tried to figure out what to do next. She had an idea but she didn't think either of them would like it, "Maybe we should ask Veronica for help." Quickly before Logan could voice the objections gathering on his face, "If she can figure out who he is maybe we can stop him from selling the pictures. I don't want my parents seeing me in the paper like that!"

She looked over at Weevil, instead of the expected rejection he had a thoughtful look on his face, "If the pictures get out Veronica is going to find out. If she can stop this then maybe she's the only one who has to. Come on, man, you know you can't keep a secret from her anyway."

Logan sighed and reluctantly nodded his assent.

Seeing that no one else was going to do it, Mac got up, walked over to her bag, grabbed her cell, and called.

Veronica picked up after a couple of rings, "Hey Mac, good work on the computer thing. I just talked to my Dad, we don't have everything we need but I think we are really close. What's up?"

With Veronica on the other end, Mac suddenly couldn't figure out exactly how to say it (Hey Veronica, a photographer got a picture of me in your ex-boyfriend's arms. Oh yeah, and Weevil's too). Was there a good way to state their problem? After the silence got just a little bit too long, Mac blurted out, "I need you to come to my room. Now, please." and hung up. She looked up, the guys were both staring at her, "Yeah, like you would have known what to say." She grabbed her clothes and hustled into the bathroom. The upcoming conversation would go a lot smoother if she was dressed. She looked in the mirror and frowned, it would also go much better if she looked less like a plague victim.

She heard Veronica knocking on the door and had to physically force herself to leave the bathroom. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Why had she brought it up in the first place?

Veronica was standing next to the TV. Neither of the guys would meet her eyes. "Well someone is going to have to tell me what the problem is." Veronica had an edge of worry in her voice.

The guys both looked at Mac, clearly expecting her to take the lead, those scumbags. Mac took a deep breath, "First of all nothing happened, I mean something happened but not a something between us." She gestured at the other two.

"That explains so little." Veronica's voice was slightly mocking.

Another deep breath, "We were playing poker, and drinking. There was a lot of drinking." Mac paused uncertain where to go from there.

"And something went horribly wrong?" Despite the light words, the worried voice was back.

"We fell asleep, that's all. We were tired, and a little drunk, so we just crashed." There that wasn't so bad. It was simple, to the point, and lacking details. "When we woke up there was a maid, she said something. I don't know what. Then there was a guy. He said, 'Smile for the camera,' and he took a picture. Then Logan chased him, but didn't catch him, and then I threw up." Perfect.

Veronica waited, no one said anything. She sighed, "Okay, I have a feeling that little narrative left out some details. Why did someone take a picture? What was he taking a picture of? And why did Logan chase him?"

There was complete and utter silence for a minute until Weevil finally spoke, "Now the most important thing is that no one took advantage of your girl or anything. She was fully dressed and was not in anyway messed with." Veronica's eyes narrowed and she made a hurry it along gesture. "We were just playing poker and Echolls got kicked outta his room. We were all just hanging out when we fell asleep." Weevil looked up at the ceiling as if seeking inspiration. "We woke up when the maid showed up, I guess to clean the room. She was telling a guy he couldn't come in. I had my arm over my eyes 'cause my head felt like shit so I didn't see him. He said the smile bit and then he took a couple of pictures. Then he bolted and Logan chased him."

There was another moment of silence before Veronica finally asked, "So why would someone want a picture of three people sleeping." Mac thought her voice sounded kind of hard. Shit.

Finally Logan spoke, Mac crossed her fingers that he wouldn't say anything stupid, "We left the A.C. on high. We must have gotten cold during the night because when we woke up we were pretty close together. Plus you know me, I cuddle." The last was said with Logan's most obnoxious grin. Mac wanted to smack him.

She looked over at Veronica dreading a mad or hurt expression. She was surprised to see her grinning, "So who was in the middle, Logan or Weevil?" then she started laughing.

Logan and Weevil both started denying, getting louder as they tried to speak over the other one. Mac looked over at Veronica leaning against the T.V. stand, trying unsuccessfully to hide a grin, and realized that maybe it was sort of funny, kind of. It took a few minutes for the boys to stop yelling (although they continued to give Veronica dirty looks).

Veronica finally stood up and got her face mostly straight, "Can you give me a description of the photographer?"

Both Mac and Weevil looked over at Logan, who hesitated, "Well, he had a camera...and he was white...dark haired...I think he was older than us, around thirty?"

"And the maid?" Veronica asked.

Again Mac and Weevil looked over at Logan, who gave them a disgusted look, "She was Hispanic, older like forty or fifty, and she was wearing a maid outfit."

Sighing, Veronica crossed her arms, obviously thinking, "That doesn't really help us. Alright, we'll check with hotel management see if we can get the maid's name. Maybe she can give us a better description of the cameraman. Logan I'll need you to come along and throw a little rich boy tantrum in order to get management's cooperation." Logan nodded unhappily.

Weevil interrupted, "I'll need to come along too the maid speaks Spanish."

Veronica agreed then looked over at Mac.

"I'll stay here, my head hurts, and I need to call Max." Mac grimaced as she said the last part. She was not looking forward to that conversation.

Just as they headed out the door, she remembered what she wanted to tell Veronica, "Wait, Veronica, one thing. I think one of the things I copied off Larry's computer will work as leverage. One of his videos starred a sheep."

Logan looked at Veronica, "This is about Larry?" Then he winced, "Larry likes animal porn?"

Looking up at the ceiling, Mac said, "Larry starred in animal porn." There was a concert of disgusted sounds from the group. "I copied the video when I pulled his financial stuff."

Veronica's, "That is so wrong." was accompanied by a wide smile. "I do believe our little blackmailer is going to turn into a blackmailee. Thanks Mac, that's just what I needed."

As the group headed out the door, Logan could be heard faintly saying, "Just so you know, Dick is the one who invited Larry. I don't know him at all..."

-----Chapter 7-----

Mac hung up the phone numbly. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The worst part was that he'd believed her when she said nothing happened, but it wasn't enough. She told Max about the photographer and he said he couldn't face having everyone they knew thinking that he'd been two timed by Logan Echolls and a janitor. She wanted to plead with him, to ask for time to track down the pictures. Instead she weakly asked, "What does this mean? Are you breaking up with me?" There had been a long pause on the other end of the phone before he said yes and hung up.

As she put away her phone she tried to tell herself that she didn't really want to be with someone who was that afraid of other people's opinions. She didn't quite believe it. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair. She had always been good, a little weird but dependable. She was the plucky computer hacker. She wasn't the type of girl who wound up embroiled in sex scandals. Numbly she walked over to the courtesy bar and grabbed an overpriced of chocolate. It didn't help much, although on the plus side at least she discovered she wasn't nauseous any more.

Walking through the room, her eyes fell on the room service menu. A few seconds later she was explaining to a bemused hotel worker that she had just been dumped by her boyfriend and might possibly be on the cover of a tabloid tomorrow. She needed an epic dessert. She wanted chocolate sorbet, syrup, sprinkles. Hell, she wanted the kitchen sink so long as it was vegan. Room service promised they would deliver a masterpiece.

She wandered around the room, not wanting to settle, not sure what she should do. Numbly she grabbed her computer and booted it up. For a brief second she thought about all the things she could do to Max to make him hurt as badly as she was hurt. But she couldn't do it. She loved him. As she sat there with her head aching and tears building up behind her eyes Mac felt the need to lash out.

Muttering to herself, "All right bitchy counter lady, you picked the wrong weekend to piss me off." After only a few minutes work, she bought the counter lady subscriptions to several magazines, to be delivered here at the hotel of course. Mac smiled grimly as she pictured her reaction to receiving: Tattoo Aficionado, Pierce World, Latino Hard-bodies, and The Masochist Lifestyle. It was a gift that kept on giving. Her co-workers would probably enjoy it too.

Now who else had pissed her off recently? If she really thought about it this whole weekend was Larry's fault. If he hadn't been a blackmailing scum she wouldn't even be here this weekend. Mac frowned thoughtfully. She didn't want to do anything to mess up Veronica's plans. However, a little ground work couldn't hurt. It didn't take long to design a fully functional website purportedly made by Larry detailing his longstanding devotion to sheep. It included the infamous video, an icky ramble about the beauty of sheep, and several animal husbandry articles just to flesh things out. Just to top it off, she also included links to his online resume and myspace page. It wasn't terribly original but it would do the trick. She wouldn't upload it until Veronica gave the okay.

This was actually rather satisfying. Aimlessly Mac looked around the room. Hm, who else deserved to suffer? When her eyes fell on Weevil's pile of stuff in the corner she remembered his rant about H.R. Whistling tunelessly, Mac pulled up the Hurst intranet, and it was the work of moments to get behind the security firewall. The problem with hiring students to work on the computer system was that it made it easy for them to get in.

It didn't take long at all to pull up the records on current workers' comp. claims. There were three still unresolved from last month, Eli Navarro's busted knee, Peter Abadi's carpel tunnel, and Aleah Jackson's sprained wrist. There was only one claim that had been granted and closed right away, Bobby O'Connell, who had a broken toe,

Mac frowned, an idea growing in the back of her head. She pulled up the campus staff website. Yep, the collage had a page with names, phone numbers, and pictures of all campus workers. She snorted, way to help out the stalkers. Of course in this case it was being used for good. She went back to the H.R. site and pulled up data for the last six months, then she cross-checked each name with the staff pictures. Over and over she saw the same pattern, and all the claims were processed by the same H.R. manager.

It wasn't difficult to download all the information she needed. The only problem was what she should do with it. Weevil wouldn't thank her for getting him fired.

Just then she heard a knock on the door. Damn, it was Dick and standing next to him, the room service guy. She had two choices, pretend not to be there and miss out on her food or open it. Against her better judgment Mac opened the door.

He walked into the room chatting happily, "It was really cool of you to order food. I'm starving. So the red-head I hooked up with is sorta pissed that I ditched her to hang with you. But I told her that I wasn't about to let some chick come between me and my buddies. So, now I'm totally free tonight too if you want to hang out."

She stared at him for a second, briefly wondering how he managed to make it through life always living in the moment. She came back to herself when the room service guy coughed politely and handed her the bill to sign. She noticed it was automatically being charged to the room. She probably should share with Dick then.

Mac cleared her throat, "Hey Dick, help yourself to some dessert. I just have a quick phone call to make. Okay?" He nodded, lifting the lid off the room service tray.

She went back to her computer and did a quick search, within seconds she was placing a call the president of the Students for Racial Justice, Hearst chapter. "Hi, I just came across something you might find interesting. According to some private files in Hearst's H.R. web page, white workers who file for workers' compensation have their claims resolved an average of four weeks quicker then other workers. In addition they are twice as likely to get a favorable decision. Plus it looks like the non-Caucasian workers who file claims or grievances are twice as likely to quit or be fired."

There was a long silence from the other end of the phone, and then a hard, "Can you prove it."

Mac smiled, "I can get you records of all the claims filed for the last year. I also have records of disciplinary hearings and contract disputes, although I haven't had time to look those over closely yet. It looks like the work of one manager, but someone at the school should have noticed. I was hoping that you'd be willing to take him down."

The president sounded excited, "When can we meet? If this is true we'll make them pay."

"I can't meet you. The problem is that I obtained this info in a less then legal manner. I can e-mail it to you though." Mac pulled up an anonymous e-mail server and quickly sent off everything she had.

The student activist thanked her, talking about press conferences, and picketing the school's offices. She seemed to be in a hurry to get off the phone and get to work. After hanging up Mac smiled, a certain H.R. manager was going to be very unhappy very soon.

She looked up to see Dick staring at her, "What?"

"Dude, you are totally like batman, fighting the forces of evil."

Mac blinked, that wasn't a comparison that would ever have occurred to her. Veronica as batman maybe, she was more like Alfred. She let the comment pass, and walked over to the food.

He was scooping chocolate sorbet into a bowl that already had some kind of thick chocolate sauce. He also added bits of cherry, marshmallow cream, and chocolate sprinkles from the bowls sitting next to the serving dish. It looked really good. After he finished dishing it up he handed the bowl to her and started making another one.

She wasn't sure if it was him being nice or the fact that she had finally stopped distracting herself with the computer. She felt tears welling up, she fought them desperately, but the final conversation with Max was running through her head. She was staring at her dessert, eyes watering, when Dick gently asked her, "Hey, Ghost World, are you okay?" and the floodgates burst. She set her food on the table and sat on the bed, covering her face, and wishing despairingly that he would go away.

The last thing she expected was for him to sit down beside her, put an arm around her, and try and comfort her. "Is this about that guy you were dating? It'll be okay. You are way too good for him anyway. I could beat him up for you; he's kind of a nerd so it wouldn't even be that hard."

At the last bit, a laugh snuck through her tears. Mac wiped her eyes and pulled away from him, "No don't do that, I'm just feeling a little..." She waved her hand uncertainly. "What did you want to talk to me about anyway?"

He gave her an uncertain look, "You sure you're alright?"

She nodded and picked up her food, "I don't want to talk about him, seriously. What did you want to talk about?"

After a second he pulled a folded up notebook out of he back pocket and pressed the crease flat. He seemed uncertain where to start, "So I was watching TV the other day and there was this guy. He was a real tool and had acted like an ass-hat to a bunch of people. So he made of this list of people he was a jerk to and decided to make it up to them. I was kind of thinking maybe I should do that." He hurried through his speech like he thought Mac was going to laugh at him.

This particular plot sounded kind of familiar. Mac came to a stunning conclusion; Dick Casablancas went and decided to make himself a better person based on the influence of a half-hour sitcom. It seemed fitting somehow. "Uh huh, why did you want to talk to me?"

He seemed relieved now that he'd told her the basis for the visit, "Well, you're smart and I could kind of use your help. I drew of the list of people pretty easy, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to make it up to some of them."

She held out her hand, "Could I see it?"

For a second she thought he'd refuse, but he handed it over. Each page of the notebook had a name on it, followed by a list of the stuff Dick had done to them. There were a lot of pages and some of the lists were extensive. She was randomly flipping through when she saw Veronica's name. Her eyebrows rose when she read the list of his offenses against her. Wow, maybe he had a point. It was going to be really hard to think of a way to make up for some of this. It was kind of surprising Veronica let him live. Mac was tempted to make a smart-ass comment but when she looked over at him he was staring at his hands miserably. Damn it, he had that kicked puppy look on his face.

Almost against her will, Mac found herself agreeing to help him. "Do you want to go over it now?"

Shaking his head he held out his hand for the notebook. "No, I figured maybe when we get back to Neptune we could sit down and go over some of the ones I'm having trouble with. I figured today we could just hang out, you know, cheer you up." He gave her a wide smile.

Mac shrugged, trying to think of anything they could do that would cheer her up.

-----Chapter 8-----

When Veronica, Logan, and Weevil returned to the room nearly two hours later they were surprised to hear shouting coming from inside. Weevil burst in, followed closely by the other two, only to stop dead in their tracks in the doorway. The room was a mess, various types of candy, junk food, and empty soda cans covering every surface. A big serving bowl filled with disgusting brown goop lay forgotten on the table, surrounded by dirty dishes. The big shocker though was the desperate battle being waged by Mac and Dick.

They were sitting on the floor in front of the television. Dick had a half-eaten meat-lovers pizza (with extra meat) on the floor next to him and a controller gripped tightly in his hand.

Mac was right next to him frantically pushing buttons; the pizza next to her had no cheese and was topped with green olives, tomato chunks, and artichoke hearts. They were playing a fighting game on the ancient console that came with the hotel room. The sound was on high, and every hit was greeted accompanied by loud bragging from the victor and howls of rage from their opponent.

Both Mac and Dick were tightly focused on the screen, neither noticing their friends' entrance. Suddenly one of the characters on the screen sent a stream of electricity at the other causing its head to explode. Dick threw down his controller and Mac sprang to her feet, her fist pumping into the air.

Dick roared, "You cheater! You cheat and you suck!"

Mac interrupted an impromptu victory dance to make an extremely rude gesture at him. "Poor Dick, is your fragile male ego unable to take being beaten by a girl?" She smirked, "Again? What is it now four to seven I believe? After you lost two out of three, three out of five, and now four to seven, don't you think it's time you admitted the truth? I'm just better then you."

He gave her a dark look, "It was all luck. Let's play again. I could so beat you at five out of..." He paused.

"Nine." She supplied mock helpfully. "Oh, I don't think so. I'd hate to utterly crush you again. Who knows what kind of permanent damage that could cause?"

"Whatever, I would so totally destroy you. Why don't we play the racing game? Everyone knows girls can't drive," he challenged with a smug look.

She shook her head sadly, "It must hurt being so deluded."

Their banter was interrupted when Veronica cleared her throat. They were both shocked to see the audience standing in the doorway. Mac hoped they arrived after her victory dance. It probably wasn't her best moment.

After pushing past Weevil, Logan walked in and put an arm around Dick, "Beaten by a girl? Man, I am so sorry. We'll get you a nice apron and some makeup. Pretty soon everyone will forget you were a man once."

Dick slugged him, "Hey, ask any of the girls, Dick's all man."

"Well you used to be." Logan quickly responded.

"Okay, you play her then. I dare you." Dick challenged him.

This time Veronica's throat clearing sounded remarkably less patient. She looked over at Mac, "I take it your headache went away."

Mac nodded and decided Veronica needed a distraction, "Yeah, made up a web page you can use to threaten Larry. I didn't upload it or anything. I'll leave that to you." She walked over to her computer and pulled up the draft of the site. The group crowded around Mac as she demonstrated the site, while Logan brought Dick up to speed on why Larry wouldn't be invited to any more parties.

"Dude, sheep?"

-----Chapter 9-----

They decided to call housekeeping to clean the room while they adjourned to the hotel dining room. Looking at the mess they left behind Mac thought that whatever they paid the maids - it wasn't enough.

It was still a little early for dinner and there weren't many people eating. It struck Mac as amusing that they were seated as far as possible from the other diners. Apparently Dick's group had developed something of a rowdy reputation.

After the waiter seated them there was a moment of silence as people looked at the menus. As she looked around Mac realized they were a rather odd group. The only thing they really had in common was going to the same high school. Just then it occurred to her that someone was missing. She spoke before she had time to think it through, "Where's Piz?" Immediately afterward she wondered if she should have kept quiet.

Veronica looked up from the menu, "He decided to head back to Neptune last night. I guess the excitement from yesterday was a little bit too much for him." Veronica's voice was even but Mac saw unhappiness in her eyes. Something wasn't right.

Mac was about to change the topic when Veronica asked her how her call to Max went. "We're broken up." She made sure to keep her voice even and unemotional. "I guess he couldn't face the though of dating someone infamous."

"That asshole, I'll beat him up for you if you want." This time the offer came from Logan who looked mad for her.

Before Mac had time to turn him down Veronica interrupted, "Don't you think you've been in enough fights this month."

He gave her a mocking look, "I don't recall asking you for permission."

Dick piped up before the sniping could escalate, "Doesn't matter, I called it already. If Mac wants him beaten up I get to do it." As both Logan and Veronica gave him identical disbelieving looks he shrugged, "Hey you got to be in the last fight. It's my turn." Veronica rolled her eyes.

Weevil leaned over the table and said quietly, "If you want his car to disappear mysteriously just give me the word."

Mac smiled at the table, "Thanks guys, I'm okay really. Please don't do anything. What did you find out about our intruder?"

Dick looked at her in confusion, "What intruder?"

Logan quickly filled him in. His reaction was positively Dick, he turned to Mac, "Dude, you scored a threesome, twisted. I knew you needed to party and cut loose!" Then he turned to Logan, shaking his head, "A threesome with another guy, man that is so gay. You seriously have to sit further away. I'd hate for people to think you were with me"

Logan and Weevil both rushed to deny the threesome part, while Veronica tried to quiet them down. Dick kept laughing at the two protesting. And Mac just sat there wondering when her life became a bad soap opera - oh yeah, it must have been when she was switched at birth.

That's when Dick's red-head from last night walked up accompanied by Madison Sinclair and her little entourage. This couldn't be good. Mac wondered if even thinking about Madison was enough to summon her, kind of like an evil demon. She resolved to never think of her again. At least the boys immediately stopped arguing.

Dick's red-head shot a glare at Mac while draping herself over him. What that was about? Madison leaned over Logan; she couldn't seem to decide who to give dirty looks too, so she alternated between Mac and Veronica. Weevil was grinning again, probably at Mac's unpopularity.

Madison sat back in her chair, her voice at its most catty, "Isn't this a cozy little high school reunion? Its amazing how you just can't escape some people."

It surprised everyone when Dick was the one to reply, "Yeah, 'cause no matter where I go you seem to be everywhere. Seriously, stalking is a crime." It looks like Dick and Madison's last breakup was actually for good.

She shot Dick a furious look, before turning to Logan, "You missed out when you disappeared last night. It's a shame that stupid fire alarm broke up the party, but afterwards a bunch of the old gang hung out in Luke's room. We were planning on getting together tonight; you should give me a call." She swept the rest of the table a disdainful look and swept away from the table.

The red-head, (seriously what was her name?) started pulling Dick away from the table, "Come on baby, I think you and me should spend some quality time together." She giggled, "My room has a hot tub with your name on it."

Dick grinned and followed willingly. He was about three steps from the table when he stopped abruptly, "Logan, man, I think maybe it's my fault the camera guy found you. There was a guy in the suite this morning talking to one of the girls. One of them asked me where you were and I told her you were across the hall hanging with Mac and Weevil. The guy probably heard me say it. I hope that didn't screw you over or anything."

Logan sighed, "Nah, we'll figure something out. Hey which girl was he talking to? Do you know her name?"

"Sorry, I didn't ask. But hey they could still be in the room. I told them they could crash as long as they wanted. A couple of them seemed kinda bummed you didn't stay. And man a threesome is much better with chicks." The red-head giggled while Logan rolled his eyes and shot Dick a twisted smile.

The waiter stopped by and took their orders, Mac just got a soda but the others ordered meals. She waited impatiently for the waiter to leave so she could ask what Veronica had discovered.

As soon as the waiter was out of earshot Veronica spoke up, "The maid was able to give us a decent description and the hotel management fell all over themselves being helpful to Logan. Here are some still shots we pulled off the elevator security camera. Do you recognize him?" Veronica handed over several photos and waited impatiently.

As she looked over the photos Mac was going to say she didn't recognize him, but something tugged her memory. Something was familiar but for the life of her she just couldn't figure out what it was. Finally it struck her, "I have seen him before, when we stopped for gas on the way up here. I saw him at the gas station."

Veronica gave Mac a thoughtful look. "Why did you notice him? Is there anything you can remember?"

"He...I think he was watching us...me and Weevil. We were talking while I pumped gas and I guess he was looking at us kind of intently." Mac shrugged. "Weevil do you remember him?"

"Nope." He took the pictures from her and stared at them for a second. "Sorry, I just don't remember seeing the guy, but I wasn't really paying attention."

Veronica nodded decisively, "Well it's a long shot but if he was at the gas station there might be surveillance footage. Where did you stop?"

Mac tried to think, "It was only about three exits before we left the highway to get here, hold on a sec." Mac grabbed her bag and began rummaging through the pockets. She pulled out a handful of crumpled up credit card receipts. "Here it is." She pulled up a receipt with the correct time date stamp. It also had the address and phone number listed at the top.

Veronica pulled out her cell phone and dialed the gas station's phone number. When the gas station picked up her voice changed tone and cadence, "Hello, my name is Janice Stanton with the San Diego Police department. We received a tip that a dangerous escaped felon was seen at your gas station at 3:22pm yesterday. There is of course a reward if the tip leads to the capture of this criminal. Do you have surveillance footage from yesterday? You do, good. We'll need a copy of the footage from yesterday afternoon. Oh, on DVD, yes that would be perfect. Yes of course you'll be eligible for a share of the reward. $10,000 actually." Veronica paused for a moment; apparently the guy on the other end must have had a lot to say.

Eventually she continued, "You have outside cameras too? Getting the license plate number and a good description of the vehicle he is driving would be a big help. Here is what I'll do. If you can have copies of the DVD ready for me I'll have a messenger service there within the hour. Oh, the San Diego P.D. uses the Green Bug service, hold on one second now...Yes the driver will be Cindy Mackenzie, please be sure to ask to see a picture I.D. Yes, once the criminal is captured they will hand out the reward. Your name, spell that please, that's two Rs? We will be contacting you shortly, thank you very much for your assistance."

Veronica hung up the phone and turned to Mac, "Do you have any vaguely uniform looking clothes you could wear?"

Mac shrugged, "I have a white button down shirt. If I put my hair back it'll look vaguely like a uniform. Want me to head out now?"

Weevil interrupted, "If you'll wait until I finish eating I'll go with you. I mean, a guy can only take being surrounded by wealth and privilege so long." He looked over at Veronica, "Unless you have something you need me to do?"

She shook her head, "No, I want to start flashing the photos around the hotel, see if anyone knows who this is." She paused then continued reluctantly, "Logan, I'd appreciate your help with that, if you could talk to the guests while I do the staff it'll save a lot of time. I'd like to talk to the girls in the suite together first. If one of them knows him it could be a good lead."

Looking around the table at the rest of the group she frowned, "If he's still around we might still be able to get the photos before he can make copies. But I do have to warn you if he used a digital camera it could already be too late."

The food arrived and the group went silent. The meal was a little awkward. Logan and Veronica although not hostile didn't speak to each other much. Weevil devoted himself to the lobster he cheerfully charged to the room and Mac sat silently sipping her soda. Bored at the lack of conversation, Mac pulled out her laptop and pulled up a local news site.

Abruptly she started to smile and looked across the table at Weevil, "Oh, you'll never guess what happened today."

"Yeah," he gave her a suspicious look, "I probably won't."

Smiling, "Didn't you say you were having problems with Hearst's H.R.? A news story was just posted, there's a big scandal. It seems that someone leaked some of their private documents. Turns out one of the managers was a racist - when a student activist group got a hold of his records they demonstrated a clear pattern of abuse of power. Seems he was delaying and denying claims he shouldn't have. Wow, looks like they are calling for his head. I'll bet Hearst will be falling all over their selves to keep from being sued. I wonder how that will affect your claim."

He smiled, "That is good news. I hope they fry the asshole. For once I'm looking forward to going to work on Monday."

-----Chapter 10-----

As he sat down in the Beetle's passenger seat Weevil couldn't suppress a grimace.

Mac gave him a concerned look, "Is your leg hurting? You can stay at the hotel if you'd like."

"Nah, it's just that sitting in this car is seriously damaging my reputation. Anybody hears about this and I'll have to knock over a bank or something to make up for it." He flashed a quick grin.

She rolled her eyes, "I'll have you know this car rocks. You're only lucky I let you ride in it."

"Just being in this cute little car is lowering my testosterone level. When we get back to the hotel I'm going to have to watch some action movies just to restore it." He gave her a suggestive leer, "Or, you know, you could help me out. It is your car doing the damage."

"Why do you do that?" she said with an annoyed look. She was sick of this weekend, feeling bad, damaging photos, and stupid boys. She was entirely sick of the male gender.

"What?"

"Try to turn everything into a dirty joke. It's not like you even like me." Mac concentrated on the road, wishing she had just rolled her eyes and ignored him.

His voice was quiet from the passenger seat, "Sure I like you chica, you're nice, sweet even, and easy on the eyes. But this is real life. And, sweetheart, in real life the tattooed ex-con from the wrong side of the highway doesn't have much to say to the good girl. Don't make it anything it isn't, it's not like you'd ever introduce me to your mother. So, I joke around. Don't take it so seriously."

She gripped the steering wheel, not sure which made her angrier, the bit about her being sweet or him saying she'd be ashamed to have him meet her mother. "I never figured you'd let fear stop you." she blurted out without thinking.

His response was quick and harsh, "What do you think I'm afraid of?"

Having started she had to finish, "How many dates have you gone on since you got out of prison?"

"Hey, I've been with women." he responded defensively.

"That's not what I asked. This isn't about having a random hookup. How many women have you asked out, shared a meal with, talked and laughed with?" Mac wondered why she was even asking. She should have kept her mouth shut. She couldn't deal with this right now.

He responded angrily, "What do you know about it? Dating your nice little college boys, you think women look at me and want happily ever after? They look at me, and if I'm lucky, they want to get down and dirty in the backseat. Hoping all the while their boyfriends don't find out." He braced himself on the dash, his muscles tight, "That's how it's always been, ain't nothing going to change."

Mac couldn't help the sarcasm in her voice, "Gee, Weevil that will work. Never looking for anything better then a one night stand is sure to result in a real relationship."

There was a long moment of silence, and then he said quietly, "Maybe I'm not looking for one. I'm sick of listening to you." He reached over and turned up the radio.

She gripped the steering wheel. She didn't know why she was so angry. It was his life, why did she care if he gave up. For the rest of the ride every time she turned down the radio he turned it back up. By the time they reached the gas station Mac was ready to push him out of the moving car, she wouldn't even bother to slow down.

When they reached the gas station she jumped out of the car, grateful to escape. The attendant was happy to turn over the footage. All she had to do was sign a receipt and listen to him babble about what he was going to do with the reward money. Mac found herself feeling a little sorry for him.

Mac puttered around the store, reluctant to go back out and deal with Weevil. She thought about the argument. It was probably just the stress. They were friends now, weren't they? She stared a shelf of oil cans blankly. It wasn't really like her to fight with anyone. She was more the type to say something cutting and move on. She sighed, she shouldn't have said anything. After the third time she circled the store the gas station guy started giving her a funny look. She grabbed an air freshener and brought it to the counter to buy. Then she was unable to put off heading out to the car any longer.

When she got back to the car wanted to apologize but she couldn't figure out what to say. The drive back to the hotel passed in silence. Mac didn't speak but at least Weevil didn't touch the radio. When they got back to the hotel Mac called Veronica. She asked Mac to start going through the surveillance videos. Weevil left after grunting something unintelligible. Mac didn't mind.

Once she got to the room, Mac pulled out her computer and got to work. Because she knew exactly what time he was there it didn't take her long to find the photographer. The guy at the station looked just like the man in the elevator photos.

The station had cameras focused on all the gas pumps, to catch the license plate number of people who left without paying. Unfortunately the photographer hadn't gassed up his car. After nearly an hour of looking at footage from several different angles Mac thought she'd identified his car. The angle was bad but the plates, although blurry, were visible. She called Veronica and gave her the numbers. Veronica promised to have them traced but hung up the phone quickly. She must have been in the middle of something, maybe she'd already found where the guy was staying.

It was only after got up from her computer that she realized she really had to talk to Weevil. It was already nearly 9:00 pm and she didn't want this hanging over her head all night.

-----Chapter 11-----

He was sitting at the hotel bar. He had his bum leg stretched out and a bottle of beer in his hand. He looked up at her, his expression giving nothing away, and took a long pull of his drink.

Mac sighed and then sat down beside him. She felt her anger subsiding and tiredness taking over. She reached over grabbed his beer and took a quick drink, maybe a little Dutch courage would make this conversation go better. Nope the beer didn't make her magically verbal and she still hated the taste. She passed the bottle back and leaned her elbows on the bar. "I didn't have the right to say that. I was in a bad mood and I took it out on you."

Weevil took another long drink of beer before offering the bottle to her. "I notice you didn't say you were wrong."

Mac took a pull, relieved that he was feeling friendly enough to offer. The beer was still nasty, "I wasn't. I know what it's like to not want to try. You do remember how well my first relationship went right? I was abandoned, naked, by a guy who murdered a bus load of people and tried to kill my best friend. It's not like jumping back into the dating pool was easy after that." She handed back the beer.

"Maybe you're braver then I am, or maybe you're dumber, it's not like things are working out all that well for you." He gave her a guilty look, "Shit, I didn't mean..."

"Yeah, Max dumped me." she stared at the shelves of liquor bottles behind the bar, "It happens. But at least I had something good for as long as it lasted. Look, I get that life doesn't have fairy tale happy endings. But that just means I have to grab happiness where I can find it." She stared at the ground. Shit, she was trying to give him hope, but everything she said was sounds like it was written for a fortune cookie.

He tilted the bottle up and finished it off. "I thought after girls got dumped they are supposed to cry and listen to crappy music or crank call the jerk and vandalize his car.'

"I think the car vandalism is only if he cheats on you." she said semi-seriously.

Weevil set the empty bottle down, "Good to know."

"Oddly enough beating Dick at video games and eating enough junk food feed a small town actually made me feel a little better." Mac smiled briefly; she had never ever expected to say that.

Weevil was quiet for a moment, "Your boyfriend is probably kicking himself for letting you go right now. I'm betting he'll be throwing himself at your feet in a couple of days." He continued, "Veronica never gives up. She'll get the pictures back and you'll be able to go back to your regular life."

She started shredding a bar napkin into tiny pieces, "I really hope so."

"Does Veronica have more for us to do?" he asked.

"I don't know. I called her to let her know I found the license number but she couldn't stay on the line."

"We could go find her." Weevil looked at her seriously.

"Sure let's go." Anything beat sitting around mooning over lost relationships.

He stood up clumsily and gave her a crooked smile, "We'll need to watch each other's backs around all these treacherous rich people."

She smiled back. "I won't let any of the scary stockbroker types ambush you." Then heading for the doorway, 'Once more unto the breach..."

"Hey, none of that fancy shit. I'll start thinking you turned into one of them."

"Uh huh, 'cause the botox crowd is known for their knowledge of great literature."

"That's not from a movie?" he asked with smiling eyes.

She snorted, "Dumb-ass."

He gave her a slight smile, "Smart-ass."

-----Chapter 12-----

They couldn't find Veronica. She wasn't answering her phone and she wasn't in her room. Logan wasn't answering his either. Unsure of where to look next Mac and Weevil knocked on the door to Dick and Logan's suite.

Dick answered shirtless and mussed, with a drink in his hand, "Nope, I don't know where Ronnie and Logan are. Last I saw they were talking to the girls in the other room. Maybe they'd know."

"Alright, thanks, I'll ask them." Mac couldn't help but feel this thing was turning into a wild goose chase. If it weren't for her determination to find the photographer she'd give up and go to bed.

Dick smiled, leaning against the doorway and suppressing a yawn. "So, see you tomorrow? When you heading out?"

Mac said, "Depends on what Veronica's found out. I want to head out early." She was hoping desperately that Veronica and Logan had already found and destroyed the pictures, that the only reason they weren't picking up their cells was that they were off relieving some of their angst ridden epic love crap.

With a hesitant look Dick asked, "Hey - what time do you want to get together Monday?"

She said with only the slightest misgivings, "Stop by my dorm at three. We'll hang out."

As they walked over to knock on Logan's door, Weevil gave her a sideways look, "Meeting Dick for a little afternoon delight? Mac you should be ashamed."

Mac gave him a sardonic look. "Yeah baby, I want some of that." she said in her most dry voice.

He snickered, then reached over and knocked on Logan's door.

The tipsy girl who answered the door at first denied knowing where Logan or Veronica had gone. She giggled a lot and kept giving Weevil lustful looks, but eventually she told them what she knew. The guy in the room that morning was named Mike; she couldn't remember his last name. He was the boyfriend of one of the other girls, Stacy. At first she couldn't think of where they could be. As they were about to leave she thought of something, "Stacy could be with her friend, um, snobby girl, lots of work done, always looks pissed. Sorry I don't remember her name.

Mac said hesitantly, "Skinny blond, wears glitter makeup and designer clothes, has no soul? Could her name be Madison?"

The drunken girl gave her a confused look, "Well, I don't know about the soul thing, but yeah I think that is her name." The girl looked over at Weevil and smiled, "Hey cutie you want to hang out later? My friends won't be back for another hour. We could have some fun." She was giggling as Mac pulled Weevil away from the doorway.

He protested, "Hey, I think I should stay here and talk some more."

Mac dropped his arm and continued walking, "Priorities Weevil, we need to find Veronica."

As they walked Mac tried Veronica's cell again. There was still no answer. Then she called the front desk. They wouldn't give her Madison's room number but they did transfer the call to her room.

When Madison picked up the phone it took her a minute to identify Mac. Before that happened Mac managed to find out that she hadn't seen either Logan or Veronica. It was asking about Veronica that tipped Madison off. She said something incoherent about stalking and hung up the phone.

Mac stopped walking and stared at the phone for a moment. She couldn't figure out what their next step should be. Weevil looked at her with a raised eyebrow, silently asking what was up. She couldn't keep the frustration out of her voice, "Madison's a dead end. Even if she did know anything she wouldn't tell me. Maybe you should go back to the drunk girl. Until we hear from Veronica we are kind of stuck."

He grinned, "Come on girl, you can't give up yet. Let's go down to the front desk. We can ask around a little. Although sooner or later you are going to have to tell me what you did to make Madison hate you so bad."

She shrugged, "Can't it just be my shining personality?" She paused for a second, "I know why I hate her, but I'm not so sure why she hates me." She was interrupted when Logan shouted from down the hall. Mac and Weevil both turned and stared in astonishment. Logan held a camera in one hand; the other was firmly wrapped around the collar of a greasy looking guy who seemed torn between pulling away from Logan and lunging for his camera.

Veronica walked behind them with a slightly disapproving look on her face, although Mac noticed she didn't tell Logan to let the guy go. When they reached Veronica's room, she pushed past them and unlocked the door. Logan tossed the camera to Mac and roughly shoved his prisoner through the doorway.

When Mac started going through the pictures, the photographer protested, "Keep your hands off my camera, break it and I'll have you arrested. Come to think if it, call off your goon or you're going to jail for kidnapping." Logan smiled at being called a goon and tossed the guy towards the bed.

Veronica stared down at him. "Why exactly were you taking pictures of my friends?"

Mike pushed himself up, "No need to get all bent out of shape. I'm just doing my job. People pay me to take pictures. I don't ask questions." As she listened to him talk, Mac scrolled through the pictures stored on his digital camera. Her eyebrows rose at his choices in subject matter. When she found the pictures from that morning she gave Veronica the nod.

When he stood up Weevil shoved him back onto the bed. "Sit your punk ass down. Who paid you?"

"Leave me alone, a chick paid me to take some photos this weekend. She's some kind of reporter. If you've got a problem with it you should take it up with her." Mike was beginning to sound whiny.

While Mike was glaring at Weevil, Mac took out the memory card and began throwing the camera from hand to hand.

"Hey, you drop that camera and I'll make you pay!" Considering his position Mike had a lot of nerve.

Veronica gave him a fake sweet smile, "Worried about your pictures? It's not like you haven't already given copies to your employer is it?"

He glared, "Who cares about the pictures, the bitch who hired me hasn't even reimbursed me for my room yet. I'm worried about my camera, that baby cost me a bundle."

Logan gave him a narrow eyed smile, "If you haven't given the pictures up yet maybe we can make a deal."

Mike gave him a suspicious look, "What kind of deal? If the price is right you can have the pictures."

"How much would it cost me for both the pictures and to ensure that no other copies exist?" Logan's voice was firm and slightly threatening. With Weevil looming beside him there was an unspoken threat that if Mike tried to hold out for too much money legs could still be broken.

Mike hastily agreed. Mac wasn't sure she could believe him when he assured them that he hadn't made any copies yet. Then he and Logan negotiated a price. He gave them all the information he had on the reporter and left the hotel room without the memory card.

The others were in a celebrating mood. It took them a minute to realize that Mac wasn't joining in. Veronica was the first to speak up, "Mac, what's the matter?"

Mac held up the memory card, "There are quite a few pictures on this. It's not just our little wake up. The funny thing is who Mike chose to photograph. All the ones that don't have me in them feature Madison."

"Oh shit Mac, I'm sorry." Of course Veronica got it right away. Weevil and Logan were at a disadvantage. They didn't know what Mac and Madison had in common.

Giving the boys a crooked smile Mac explained, "Well, you see I was born within a day of Madison Sinclair, at the same hospital in fact. Which wouldn't matter at all except that hospital made a tiny little mistake and mislabeled two of the babies, us actually." Logan and Weevil were giving her identical expressions of astonishment. Mac turned to Veronica, "There isn't anything I can do is there? I mean, if a reporter is investigating both of us it's pretty much guaranteed she's looking into the switch."

"I think you're right. We got the pictures but if the secret is out of the bag there isn't much we can do to stuff it back in again. I'm sorry. If there is anything I can do let me know." Veronica said sympathetically.

Logan walked over and gave Mac a brief one armed hug. "At least the article won't be accompanied by photos of this morning. I paid him enough that he damn well better keep his mouth shut too."

Weevil was giving her a look she couldn't interpret. "That is so messed up. They didn't switch you back? How long have you known about this?"

Wondering over to the mini-fridge Mac grabbed a soda. She quickly summed up the story, explaining how Veronica had helped her in high school. She was just finishing when a gigantic yawn forced itself out of her mouth.

Grabbing a seat on the bed Veronica smiled up at her, "Forget about tomorrow, if nothing else believe me when I say notoriety isn't as bad as you'd think."

Logan interrupted, "Yeah, it's a pain but not the end of the world. At least your story doesn't involve bum fights or murderous relatives."

"No sex videos either. Worst thing they can do is post embarrassing baby pictures." Veronica said with a wry smile.

Mac found herself smiling reluctantly. It really wasn't the end of the world. She looked over at Weevil, he hadn't said anything, "What, you don't like me anymore now that you know genetically I'm a 09er?"

He replied without missing a beat, "Nah, just thinking the Sinclair family definitely got the shitty end of that stick."

A reluctant laugh broke out as Mac threw herself down on the sofa. "So what should we do now?"

Logan pulled out a deck of cards, "Poker?"

Veronica smiled, "What are the stakes?"

"Not drinking!" Mac hastily replied.

Weevil smirked, "Well I'm up for strip poker." The pillows thrown by Veronica and Mac hit him almost at the same time.

Logan rummaged through the courtesy bar, pulling out a giant bag of m&ms, "I believe I found our chips. I'm sure we can all agree, order of value: orange, green, red, blue, yellow and then brown. You guys up for it?" He started dividing up the candies.

They started playing after a brief argument (Veronica thought green should have the highest value). The game lasted all night - although they had to call room service for more candy, people kept eating the chips. It was fun, there was minimal sniping between Veronica and Logan, and several vigorous m&m fights.

-----Chapter 13-----

It was something of a relief the next morning when Mac woke up sleeping next to Veronica. Mac climbed out of bed rubbing her eyes. "Veronica, want to go get breakfast before heading out?"

The only response was a muffled, "Go 'way."

She started towards the door. She desperately wanted to brush her teeth, but..."Veronica I thought you wanted to get up early today?"

Veronica stretched, yawned, and sat up. "Mornings suck."

Mac grinned at her, "But mornings after you've successfully solved your case and can look forward to your pay check suck much less...Speaking of that, Weevil let slip that he was getting paid for this little jaunt. Veronica are you holding out on me?"

After a mock look of wounded innocence Veronica smiled. "You'll get a cut, don't worry about it." She paused for a moment, "Do you want to talk about what happened with Max? Now that we've got the pictures back..." She trailed off.

"I don't really want to talk about it," but Mac continued with out pausing, "I just...I was hurt yesterday, I couldn't believe he dropped me just like that. Today I'm mad, I know it looked bad but he believed me when I said nothing happened."

Veronica gave her a solemn look, "I worked a case for him, I can't give you any details but he tried a relationship with someone with a past, it just didn't work out. I think maybe he just was afraid to try again...of course that means he's an idiot passing up the best thing that ever happened to him in his life." Veronica gave Mac a rueful smile, "If the boy is that dumb you are definitely better off with out him."

After walking over to the mirror, Mac started finger combing her hair, watching Veronica's face in the reflection, "What happened with Piz? I was kind of surprised he left early."

Veronica frowned and for a long moment Mac thought she wasn't going to say anything, "He said something about how he didn't like all the skulking around. Then he said he wasn't like me, he said I get a rush from breaking laws and violence. Somehow it turned into this big argument where he said I wanted someone more dangerous then him. I tried to tell him that wasn't what I wanted but it was like a dam burst, he accused me of still having feelings for Logan and said I was just using him as a placeholder. It shocked the heck out of me. He didn't even let me get a word in edgewise."

Mac sat down on the bed next to Veronica, who had her arms wrapped around her knees, "Do you still have feelings for Logan?"

"I don't know, I mean, we've got so much history. I think there is too much between us now. We can't even talk to each other with out sniping. Piz was my attempt at normal. Normal never does seem to work too well for me." Veronica said bitterly.

Mac leaned over and gave her a quick one armed hug. "I know you're going to be busy this summer with your high-speed F.B.I. internship, but you'd better remember to e-mail me."

"Like I could ever forget my best gal-pal?" Veronica responded brightly, "You'd better stay out of trouble too, no more incriminating pictures until I get back."

"Yeah, yeah I'm just a tabloid hussy. I've got to head back to the room and brush my teeth." Mac jumped off the bead and headed for the door, giving a wave over her shoulder.

She heard Veronica yell, "Well I was going to say something about the breath..." as she closed the door behind her.

-----Chapter 14-----

Mac yawned and headed back to her room. As she opened the door to her room she couldn't help the loud laugh that broke through. Apparently Logan really did cuddle in his sleep. She managed to pull her cell phone out and snap one quick picture before Logan and Weevil scrambled off the bed. Unfortunately their reflexes weren't dulled by alcohol this morning and they managed to get to her before she even got out the door. Weevil grabbed the phone while Logan picked her up. It was hard to get away when you can't stop laughing.

It was the work of seconds for Weevil to erase the picture. "Come on Logan, let me go. The picture is erased." Mac couldn't keep the laughter out of her voice.

He swung around and dropped her on the bed, "Tricky, Mac, you thinking of taking up a career as a blackmailer?"

"Nah just needed a new background on my laptop. At least you guys are both dressed this time." She sat up. "You ready to head out?"

Weevil tossed her the cell phone, grabbed some clothes, and headed to the bathroom. "It would have been a much better night if you'd been sharing the bed with me. I had to push grabby hands over there away all night."

"From the look of things when I came in you didn't try too hard," Mac couldn't help the mocking tone. The slamming of the bathroom door was his only answer.

Logan threw himself down on the bed next to Mac. He started flipping through channels, obviously in no hurry to head back to his room. Mac hesitated, not sure if she should tell him. Then he smiled up at her, a friendly smile, so different from the unhappy look he always seemed to be wearing lately, "Logan."

"Yeah?"

Mac stared at the television, not meeting his eyes, "When Piz left he took Veronica's ride home. She hasn't asked me for a ride yet...if you were to assure me you'd give her a ride back, I'll leave without talking to her." Mac felt kind of like a traitor even as she offered. But neither was happy and she was sick of watching their train wreck.

"What did I ever do to you? It must have been bad if you'd wish a three hour car ride with my crazy ex on me?" Logan's voice sounded weary.

Mac hesitated, trying to pick the right words, "It's a chance. Piz left and you didn't. Don't tell me you're over her. You aren't that good an actor."

"Don't tell me about my feelings. Why do you care?" Logan was starting to sound angry.

"You are both my friends. I think you need each other. Plus you two are so screwed up no one sane would take either of you." The last bit just slipped out.

To her relief Logan laughed, "I'll give her a ride home but it won't do much good. There is too much between us now."

"Well it would be nice if you could at least go back to being friends. Just promise me you won't leave her by the side of the road or anything like that." Mac kept her voice very firm.

"Scout's honor, I'll see her home." Logan gave her a mocking Boy Scout salute. Mac had a sudden mental image of Logan as a Boy Scout. She wasn't sure if it was cute or vaguely horrifying. Do they give merit badges in surfing, gambling, and drinking?

Weevil came back into the room and started gathering up his stuff. Seeing his industry Mac pushed away from the bed and started packing. She turned to Logan, "We're heading out. I can trust you?"

Logan rolled his eyes, "Yes, get out of here already...And Mac, thanks." As she turned to walk away Mac wondered if she was doing the right thing.

-----Chapter 15-----

The ride back to Neptune went quickly. They took turns picking the radio station but mostly

stayed silent. They just outside the Neptune city limits when Weevil broke the silence. "Do you like Echolls?

"Huh? Mac turned and stared at Weevil, only looking back at the road when she felt the car swerve.

"Are you two going to hook up or something? You two seem pretty comfortable together." Weevil's voice was carefully even.

Mac snorted, "And we have so much in common? What in the world makes you ask that? We're friends. Plus I make it a point never to date anyone madly in love with Veronica."

Weevil was silent for a long moment, "Well, I just figured with you really being a 09er maybe you'd start dating 'em."

"Because it went so well the first time? Give me a break Weevil. I'm not still hung up on the high school social pecking order. Why would you care anyway?"

"We're friends aren't we? I'd just hate to see you get hurt." Weevil firmly responded.

Mac found herself sighing. Sometimes guys were impossible. "I have to make a quick stop before I drop you off. Okay?"

"Sure, whatever."

Mac pulled into the driveway of a house well outside of the 90909 zip code. She got out of the car and stood next to Weevil's door, "Well, you coming?"

With a grumble he pushed himself out of the car and followed her into the house.

Mac had just opened the door when her Mom rushed out and gave her a hug. Mac smiled over at Weevil, "Mom, this is my friend Eli. Eli meet my Mom."

Weevil shot her a look for surprising him before turning and smiling at the older woman, "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Mackenzie."

They pulled away from the house several hours later, after Mac's Mom force fed them lunch and told a series of embarrassing stories from Mac's childhood.

Weevil cleared his throat, "Why did you need to stop at your parent's place?"

Mac gave him a crooked smile, "Well, now you can never say I was ashamed to introduce you."

He slowly returned her smile, "So, this weekend was kinda fun. We should hang out again sometime."

-----epilogue-----

Mac entered the bank and got herself a safety deposit box. It wasn't long before she was alone with a box and a key. With a somewhat rueful look she placed a thumb drive in it. There was only one picture on it, the first one the photographer took. They were all half asleep, and Logan and Weevil both had an arm wrapped around her. It might come back and bite her in the ass, but some things were just too good to destroy.

-----the end-----


End file.
